In Our Towns

August 22, 2007

WHAT'S BREAKING

Motorcyclist Dies In Crash

KILLINGLY -- A 36-year-old man died Monday night when the motorcycle he was riding hit a tree along Margaret Henry Road, state police said.

Gerard Lariviere, of the Oneco section of Sterling, was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident was reported at 8:48 p.m., state police said. Lariviere was driving a Yamaha, heading south on Margaret Henry Road near the Sterling town line, when he drove off the road, crossed the northbound lane into a wooded area and hit a tree, state police said.

House Fire Displaces Family

EAST HARTFORD -- A family was without its home Tuesday after a fire Monday night swept through the house at 32 Brook St. and killed a pet dog and cat, fire officials said.

Assistant Fire Chief Vincent Palmeri said a woman and her three children, none of whom were identified, were home when the fire broke out about 8:30 p.m., but they fled and were not injured.

The two-story house was damaged significantly and uninhabitable, but had no structural damage, Palmeri said.

The blaze was reported at 8:26 p.m., and firefighters arrived four minutes later, he said. The fire was brought under control about 15 minutes after that.

The fire started when a lamp fell in a basement closet that the children were using as a playhouse, Palmeri said. When the lamp fell, combustible material nearby caught fire.

Officer Sustains Concussion

MANCHESTER -- A police officer is taking a few days off to recover from a concussion he sustained en route to an auto accident, police said Tuesday.

Police said Officer Jerrad Johnson was responding to an accident early Monday on Broad Street, where a car and motorcycle had collided. Johnson was driving on West Middle Turnpike when a car turned onto that road from South Alton Street. Johnson swerved to avoid hitting the car and went off the road and into shrubbery, police said.

Johnson was taken to Manchester Memorial Hospital and released after being diagnosed with a concussion, police said. Police said the individuals involved in the motorcycle-car crash were not seriously injured.

2 Face Prostitution Charges

WILLIMANTIC -- Two women were arrested Monday on prostitution charges and one was arraigned in Superior Court in Danielson Tuesday, police said.

Willimantic police Lt. Mary Beth Curtis said an undercover officer posing as a john solicited Kimberly Neeld, 35, of Brooklyn, and Eileen Molina, 46, of Willimantic, between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Monday, and then arrested and charged each with prostitution.

Molina posted $1,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 29, Curtis said. Neeld was being held with bail set at $5,000 following her arraignment Tuesday and is scheduled to return to court Sept. 5.

Curtis said the women, both of whom were arrested near Main Street, are the 22nd and 23rd women to be arrested in Willimantic and charged with prostitution this year. Curtis said many women turn to prostitution to fund their drug habits.

COVENTRY -- A motorcyclist taken by Life Star helicopter to Hartford Hospital after an accident early Monday was improving Tuesday, Coventry police reported.

Christopher Crocker, 38, of Coventry, apparently lost control of his motorcycle and went off the road in front of 360 Sam Green Road about 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Police are investigating the accident.

$75,000 Grant Awarded

WILLIMANTIC -- State Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, Tuesday announced the approval of a $75,000 grant to the ACCESS Agency Inc., which is headquartered in Willimantic.

The grant will be used to pay for renovations to a facility at 231 Broad St., Danielson. The building, owned by the ACCESS Agency, was the birthplace of the organization in the mid-1960s and is vacant. The funding will help to bring the building up to code so that community services and other programs can be relocated to the area.

``This funding will help the ACCESS Agency to better serve the community and to work toward their mission of empowering individuals and families to overcome barriers that inhibit prosperity,'' Williams said in a prepared statement.

``We are delighted that the senator was able to secure this funding so that we will be able to provide these services and strengthen individuals and families in the Killingly area,'' ACCESS Executive Director Peter DeBiasi said.

The ACCESS Agency is a nonprofit, federal and state-designated community action agency that serves Tolland and Windham counties and the entire eastern region of the state. ACCESS offers free programs to qualifying participants, including food, heat, energy, housing assistance, job and life-skills training, transportation, community services, small-business counseling, mentoring, and more.

For more information about the ACCESS Agency, visit www.accessagency.org or call 860-450-7400.